Region Nine includes the counties of Albemarle, Culpeper, Fauquier, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Nelson, Orange, and Rappahannock; and the city of Charlottesville.

REGIONAL COUNCIL

The Regional Council is a certified entity by the State Board that will propose projects and ensure accountability for the use of funds used to support projects endorsed by the Council. The intent of the regional structure is to provide an incentive for regions to collaborate in order to diversify the economy and create high paying jobs in the region.

Regional Councils are business led and include individuals from a variety of sectors; education, government, civic or community leaders, economic and workforce development professionals, local government officials, regional planning entities and nonprofits.

The Regional Council is a certified entity by the State Board that will propose projects and ensure accountability for the use of funds used to support projects endorsed by the Council. The intent of the regional structure is to provide an incentive for regions to collaborate in order to diversify the economy and create high paying jobs in the region.

Press Release

SUPPORT ORGANIZATION

A regional council must be affiliated with or supported by a new or existing organization whose purposes and competencies include collaborative planning, economic development or workforce activities within the region. Region Nine is supported by the Central Virginia Partnership for Economic Development, led by Helen Cauthen. The purpose of the support organization is to provide fiduciary oversight and administrative services for the activities funded by monies received from Virginia Growth and Opportunity Fund (VGOF). The support organization operates with the advice and consent of the regional council.

Current Projects

The proposed project will redevelop the former George Washington Carver High School into the state-of-the-art GWC Piedmont Technical Education Center to train machinists and welders. New Pathways Tech Inc. will operate the facility in partnership with Germanna Community College and the American Institute of Welding to train machinists and welders for the region’s advanced manufacturing industry.

The proposed planning grant will build capacity for the Central Virginia Cybersecurity Partnership, a collaborative effort to create a talent development solution for Region 9’s cybersecurity industry. The overall goal of the project will be to establish a shared cybersecurity program for Piedmont Virginia, Lord Fairfax, and Germanna Community Colleges, who will each establish a primary area of instructional expertise and seek accreditation from the National Centers for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense.

The proposed planning grant will advance a portfolio of eight sites targeted for light manufacturing to at least a Tier 3 on the Virginia Business Readiness Scale through the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP).

The proposed project will create a program through Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) and Germanna Community College to train candidates in wine and cider making, craft brewing, and distilling. This program will establish a career pathway in the adult beverage manufacturing sector and will help to facilitate the scale-up of this growing industry cluster for the region.

This planning grant will build capacity for CvilleBioHub, an organization that informs and connects the biotech and life sciences community and promotes the region as the center of the biotechnology industry. The overall goal for the project is to assess the current and projected regional capacity for the biotech industry, and create a strategic plan for driving innovation and growth for this cluster. In addition, the planning grant will plan for organizational sustainability and growth, through new revenue models and the formation of additional partnerships with regional institutions.